KOCHI: The monsoon tourism in Kerala is likely to face a severe hit in the current season on account of a sharp fall in visitors from Saudi Arabia due to new biometric verification norms introduced by Indian Embassy in Riyadh. The new regulation requires that a Saudi national traveling to India should visit the Indian embassy in Riyadh and submit for biometric and finger print scanning before boarding the flight.
The new regulation has put severe restriction on tourists as people residing in places like Dammam and Jeddah needed to travel to Riyadh before proceeding to India, said Sakkeer Hussain Mannancherry, general secretary Arab Tour Operators Association (ATTO). Dammam is around 400 km away from Riyadh while Jeddah around 900 km, he pointed out.
"Tourists from Saudi Arabia flock to Kerala during the monsoon season to enjoy the rains. The new decision by the Indian Embassy has put a question mark over this flow", Mr. Mannancherry said. The June-September monsoon in 2015 has attracted around 70,000 tourists from Saudi Arabia, he said.
According to Mr. Mannancherry already 100 packages for the current monsoon season have been cancelled. Instead of restricting the biometric scanning to embassy in Riyadh, the government should install a similar facility in airports in Saudi Arabia, the leaders of ATTO said. The tour packages to Kerala have been diverted to destinations such as Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, they said.
